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Uman (, , ) is a city in Cherkasy Oblast, central Ukraine. It is located to the east of Vinnytsia. Located in the east of the historical region of Podolia, the city rests on the banks of the Umanka River. Uman serves as the administrative center of Uman Raion (raion). It hosts the administration of Uman urban hromada, one of the of Ukraine. Population:
Among Ukrainians, Uman is known for its mention in Taras Shevchenko's longest poem, Haidamaky ("The Haidamaks", 1841).Magocsi, A History of Ukraine, 1996, p297 The city is also a pilgrimage site for Breslov Hasidic Jews and a major center of gardening research containing the Sofiyivka Park and the University of Gardening.
Uman (Humań) was a private town of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Poland retook Uman in 1667, after which the town was deserted by many of its residents who fled eastward to Left-bank Ukraine. From 1670–1674, Uman was the residence of the Hetman of right-bank Ukraine.. It was part of Ottoman Empire between 1672 and 1699.
Under the ownership of the Potocki family of Polish nobles (1726–1832) Uman grew in economic and cultural importance. A Basilian monastery and school were established at this time.
The Uman region was the site of haidamaky uprisings in 1734, 1750, and 1768. Notably during the latter, Cossack rebels Maksym Zalizniak and Ivan Gonta captured Uman during the Koliyivshchyna uprising against Polish rule. During this revolt, a massacre took place against , Polish people and Ukrainians . On the very first day large numbers of Ukrainians deserted the ranks of Polish forces and joined the rebels when the city was surrounded. Thousands from the surrounding areas fled to the Cossack garrison in Uman for protection. The military commander of Uman, Mladanovich, betrayed the city's Jews and allowed the pursuing Cossacks in, in exchange for clemency towards the Polish population. In the span of three days an estimated 20,000 Poles and Jews were slain with extreme cruelty, according to numerous Polish sources, with one sourcePaul Robert Magocsi "A History of Ukraine", Univ. of Washington Press 1996, p.300 giving an estimate of 2,000 casualties.
The Polish 8th National Cavalry Brigade was garrisoned in the city in 1790.
Into the 20th century, Uman was linked by rail to Kyiv and Odesa, leading to the rapid development of its industrial sector. Its population grew from 10,100 in 1860 to 29,900 in 1900 and over 50,000 in 1914. According to the Russian census of 1897, Uman with a population of 31,016 was the second largest city of Podolia after Kamianets-Podilskyi.
In 1941, the Battle of Uman took place in the vicinity of the town, where the Wehrmacht encircled Red Army positions. Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini visited Uman in 1941. Uman was occupied by German forces from 1 August 1941, to 10 March 1944. The Germans operated the AGSSt 16 assembly center for prisoners of war in 1941, and the Stalag 349 POW camp from September 1941 to October 1943.
In January 1989 the population was 90,596 people. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность городского населения союзных республик, их территориальных единиц, городских поселений и городских районов по полуУмань // Большой энциклопедический словарь (в 2-х тт.). / редколл., гл. ред. А. М. Прохоров. том 2. М., "Советская энциклопедия", 1991. стр.525
Uman's landmark is a famous park complex, Sofiyivka Park (; ), founded in 1796 by Count Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki, a szlachcic, who named it for his wife Sofia. The park features a number of waterfalls and narrow, arching stone bridges crossing the streams and scenic ravines.
Until 18 July 2020, Uman was designated as a city of oblast significance and did not belong to Uman Raion even though it was the center of the raion. As part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Cherkasy Oblast to four, the city was merged into Uman Raion.
During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Uman was hit by Russian artillery on 24 February 2022, which led to the death of a cyclist. The incident was caught on camera. Another Russian missile strike on 28 April 2023 hit a residential building in the city, killing at least 23 people including 6 children and injuring dozens more. The airstrike was quickly followed by a Telegram post by the Russian Ministry of Defense of an image of a missile launch with the caption "right on target".
Since the 1990s there has been a small, but growing, Jewish population in Uman, concentrated around the tomb of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov on Pushkina street. The local Jews are mostly involved in pilgrimage of Jewish tourists that arrive to the town. In 2018, the community saw large growth with about 10–20 families coming from Israel, accompanied by a small movement of young American couples. Newcomers to the city are concentrating around Skhidna St, with some toward Nova Uman area. In conjunction with this growth in the community, a new school of Yiddish was established.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, unauthorized construction continued on the former cemetery grounds, including residential and commercial developments, often without full archaeological or religious consideration. Efforts to halt further construction and to mark or preserve the cemetery have faced legal and political challenges. In 1994, a presidential decree designated the area surrounding Rebbe Nachman’s grave as a Historical and Cultural Center, prohibiting new construction. This designation was reaffirmed in 1995 by the Cherkasy Regional Council, which recognized the cemetery as a cultural monument. Despite these protections, illegal construction has continued since the 1990s. In 2024, the Uman City Council adopted a plan that significantly reduced the protected zone, raising concerns over the site’s vulnerability to further encroachment.
International Jewish organizations and other advocacy groups have called for preservation and partial restoration of the site, but enforcement has been inconsistent, and some new buildings remain atop known burial areas. The United States government has also expressed concern. The United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, a federal agency responsible for protecting cultural sites related to the heritage of U.S. citizens, has approved a project to erect a monument on the cemetery grounds to help protect it from further desecration. The Historical and Cultural Center of Uman, established in 2022 with the participation of Hasidic community members and heritage experts, also works to preserve the site and promote awareness of its historical significance.
The Rosh Hashana pilgrimage dates back to 1811, when the Rebbe's foremost disciple, Nathan of Breslov, organized the first such pilgrimage on the Rosh Hashana after the Rebbe's death. The annual pilgrimage attracted hundreds of Hasidic Judaism from Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Poland throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, until the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 sealed the border between Soviet Russia (later the Ukrainian SSR within the Soviet Union) and Poland. A handful of Soviet Hasidic Jews continued to make the pilgrimage clandestinely; some were discovered by the KGB and exiled to Siberia, where they died.
The pilgrimage ceased during World War II and resumed on a drastically smaller scale in 1948. From the 1960s until end of the Cold War in 1989, several hundred American and Israeli Hasidic Jews made their way to Uman, both legally and illegally, to pray at the grave of Rebbe Nachman. In 1988, the Soviets allowed 250 men to visit the Rebbe's grave for Rosh Hashana. In 1989, over 1,000 Hasidic Jews gathered in Uman for Rosh Hashana 1989. In 1990, 2,000 attended.See the article "A New Phase in Jewish-Ukrainian Relations" by Mitsuharo Akao In 2008, attendance reached 25,000 men and boys. "Hasidic Jews celebrate holiday in Uman" Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 2008-10-02. Retrieved 2009-08-01. In 2018, over 30,000 Jews made the Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Uman.
In the mid-2010s, Israelis from many sectors of Israel's Ultra-Orthodox community, including many Mizrahi Jewish rabbis, make the pilgrimage. The event brings together a wide variety of Orthodox society, from Yemenite Jewish yeshiva students, to former Israeli prison inmates, and American hippies. Rosh Hashana in Uman: A Jewish anarchy By NATAN ODENHEIMER, 10/02/2016, Jerusalem Post In 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the number of pilgrims coming to Uman for Jewish New Year was approximately 10,000, or about one-third of the number in 2021. This year's Jewish New Year celebrations in Uman were unlike the previous years, Hromadske, via Twitter. 4 October 2022.
The annual pilgrimage is regarded as Uman's main economic industry.[7] How Do You Say Shofar in Ukrainian? The strange and wonderful Hasidic pilgrimage to Uman, Ukraine., By Menachem Kaiser
The city's highest educational institutions are the Uman National University of Horticulture and the Uman State Pedagogical University.
==Gallery==
Russian and Soviet rule
With the 1793 Second Partition of Poland, Uman became part of the Russian Empire and a number of aristocratic residences were built there. In 1795, Uman became a povit/uezd center in Voznesensk Governorate, and in 1797, in Kyiv Governorate.
(2025). 9780253060891, Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. ISBN 9780253060891
Independent Ukraine
As of 2011, the city has optical and farm-machinery plants, a cannery, a brewery, a vitamin factory, a sewing factory, a footwear factory, and other industrial enterprises. The main architectural monuments are the catacombs of the old fortress, the Basilian monastery (1764), the city hall (1780–1782), the Dormition Roman Catholic church in the Classicist style (1826), and 19th-century trading stalls.
Demographics
Distribution of the population by native language according to the 2001 census:
Ukrainian 93.27% Russian 6.38% Other 0.35% Total 100.00% Those who did not indicate their native language or indicated a language that was native to less than 1% of the local population.
Economy
The city possesses some 21 large and 450 small businesses among which agricultural, pharmaceuticals, food and spirits companies.
Jewish community
A large Jewish community lived in Uman in the 18th and 19th centuries. During the Second World War, in 1941, the Battle of Uman took place in the vicinity of the town, where the Wehrmacht encircled Red Army positions. The Germans deported the entire Jewish community, murdering around 17,000 Jews, "Uman! Uman! Rosh HaShanah! A guide to Rebbe Nachman's Rosh HaShanah in Uman". Breslov. and completely destroyed the Jewish cemetery, burial place of the victims of the 1768 uprising as well as Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. After the war, a Breslov Hasidic Judaism managed to locate the Rebbe's grave and preserved it when the Soviets turned the entire area into a housing project.
Jewish cemetery
The Jewish cemetery in Uman served as the burial site for local Jews, including victims of the 1768 Haidamak uprising, as well as Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, a prominent Hasidic leader and founder of the Breslov. The cemetery was destroyed by Nazi forces during World War II, and much of the site was later redeveloped into residential and urban infrastructure during the Soviet era. Despite extensive construction in the area, the grave of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov was preserved by members of the Breslov Hasidic community, particularly through efforts led by Reb Michel Dorfman, who organized discreet visits and obtained Soviet assurances to protect the site during development.
Pilgrimage to Rebbe Nachman's grave
Every Rosh Hashana, there is a major pilgrimage by tens of thousands of Hasidim and others from around the world to the burial site of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, located on the former site of the Jewish cemetery in a rebuilt synagogue.David M. Gitlitz & Linda Kay Davidson Pilgrimage and the Jews (Westport: CT: Praeger, 2006), 115-117. Rebbe Nachman Me'Uman spent the last five months of his life in Uman,Kaplan, Aryeh (1985). "Until the Mashiach: Rabbi Nachman's biography: an annotated chronology". Jerusalem/New York: Breslov Research Institute. Chapter 24: Uman 5570 (1810). and specifically requested to be buried there. As believed by the Breslov Hasidim, before his death he solemnly promised to intercede on behalf of anyone who would come to pray on his grave on Rosh Hashana, "be he the worst of sinners"; thus, a pilgrimage to this grave provides the best chance of getting unscathed through the stern judgement which, according to Jewish faith, Hashem passes everybody on Yom Kippur.
"Anyone in the world, be he the worst and most corrupt of sinners, would he come to my grave, give a penny to charity on my behalf and chant the Ten Mizmorim, then would I overturn the very Heavens on his behalf, and from the Most High of Heights would I descend to the Deepest Depths of Hell, to pull him out" (Breslov website (Hebrew) [3]).
Geography
Climate
Science and education
Notable people
Twin towns – sister cities
Uman is Sister city with:
See also
Bibliography
External links
[http://encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?AddButton=pages\U\M\Uman.htm Uman] in the [http://encyclopediaofukraine.com Encyclopedia of Ukraine]
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